Although churches remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and the obligation to attend Sunday Mass is suspended temporarily, the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland is offering opportunities for the faithful to view and privately participate in Holy Week liturgies.
The livestreamed and taped liturgies will be available on the diocesan website.
A private Palm Sunday Mass will be livestreamed from the Mater Ecclesiae Chapel in the diocessan office building at 9:30 a.m. on April 5.
The chrism Mass will be livestreamed at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 7. The private Mass will be celebrated in the cathedral by Bishop Martin Amos, retired bishop of Davenport, Iowa. During this liturgy, the holy oils that will be used for sacraments during the year will be blessed.
The Mass of the Lord’s Supper will be celebrated by Father Don Oleksiak, diocesan administrator, at 4 p.m. on Holy Thursday, April 9 in the cathedral. Father Dan Schlegel, vicar for clergy and religious, will be the homilist for this privately celebrated, livestreamed liturgy.
Stations of the cross will be pre-recorded at the cathedral and broadcast at noon at noon on Good Friday, April 10.
Father Oleksiak will preside at the Passion of Our Lord, which will be livestreamed at 3 p.m. on Good Friday from the cathedral. Father Sean Ralph, cathedral rector, will be the homilist.
The Easter Vigil will be livestreamed at 7:30 p.m. on Holy Saturday, April 11. Father Oleksiak will celebrate the private Mass and Father John Manning, delegate for senior priests, will be the homilist.
Father Oleksiak also will celebrate a private, livestreamed Easter Sunday Mass at 9:30 a.m. on April 12 from the cathedral.
In addition, the pre-recorded, weekly televised Sunday Mass will be broadcast at 6 a.m. on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday on Fox 8 TV. The presider and homilist for the Easter liturgy will be Father Oleksiak.
Many parishes also will offer livestreamed or pre-recorded Masses and Holy Week liturgies that can be viewed on their parish website, Facebook page or YouTube. A Sunday Mass in Spanish also can be viewed on the diocesan website.
Private daily Mass is celebrated at 9:30 a.m. Monday through Friday from the Mater Ecclesiae Chapel. The Masses can be viewed live on the diocesan website or on demand after the live broadcast.